“Hey-hey,
ho-ho, factory farming’s go to go!” Did you hear the cry on
Saturday morning, Sept. 29? If not, then you missed 65 conscientious PDX
animal folks walking and chanting to raise awareness of animals housed
in jails of jeopardy, otherwise known as factory farming. We raised our
signs, handed out leaflets, and sent our voices high in the air to let
the community know who we are. But we also strutted our stuff celebrating
those animals that made it to freedom and live comfortably in one of Farm
Sanctuary’s farms in New York or California. (See
Walk photos, courtesy of Erika Flint, Jack
Nose Photography)

The
total number of money raised from the walk is yet to be tallied, as we
had several walk-ins, as well as a raffle with gifts provided by Vita
Café, Northwest VEG, and Herbivore Clothing and Magazine. We’ll
let you know how we did in the next newsletter.

If you think that
a walk does little to help a cause, please reconsider your stance. It
gets like-minded people together to meet, smile at one another, and make
our world a peaceful place. The walk supported the lifestyles of vegans,
vegetarians, and those moving towards a change. It was a forum for non-judgment,
as we are all in different places in our work to free ourselves from animal
consumption. Moreover, the money we raised goes directly to the animals.
Learn more about the annual Walk
for Farm Animals.

So next year, ask
yourself—will I be part of that spirit, shouting out for animals,
or will you just read another article, wishing you could have been a part
of the EXPERIENCE?

You must be
the change you want to see in the world.— Mahatma Ghandi

2nd
Annual Vegan Holiday Festival Set for Nov. 3

Northwest VEG is pleased
to join with Robert Cheeke of Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness to sponsor
the 2nd Annual Vegan Holiday Festival on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Benson High
School. Everyone from the merely curious to vegan is welcome to attend,
and will find easy and simple steps to eat and live in a more sustainable
and compassionate manner.

The Vegan Holiday
Festival will feature presenters, plus a wide variety of exhibitors and
participating nonprofit groups will offer information on nutrition and
health, exercise, cooking and baking, the environment, and proactive steps
for a promising future. Holiday-themed and animal-friendly products and
services including crafts, gifts, and food will be available. Presenters
include Culinary Expert Chef Al Chase and the Chefs from Blossoming Lotus
Café here in Portland, along with many others.

Robert Cheeke, President
of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness, decided to present the Vegan Holiday
Festival because of a need to counter the unthinking cruelty that goes
on in food and clothing production for the holiday season. He wanted a
festival to uplift, inspire, educate and motivate people to make healthier
and more compassionate food and lifestyle choices. Robert's goal for the
festival is to strengthen our vegan community and support the vegan companies,
businesses, individuals and groups here in the Northwest.

Vegan
Businesses Consolidate in New Southeast Location

Several
vegan businesses will be in new digs this fall, under the same roof. Food
Fight Vegan Grocery (owners Chad & Emiko pictured), Herbivore
Clothing, Sweetpea
Baking Company, and Scapegoat
Tattoo will be operating out of a new Portland location at 1217 SE
Stark St. Food Fight, Herbivore, and Scapegoat are aiming to open at the
new location by Nov. 1. Sweetpea, which has been a wholesaler of cakes
and baked treats, will open in early January; it will be Oregon’s
first exclusively vegan sit-down bakery.

Food Fight, a Northwest
VEG business partner, will double in size, adding small produce and bulk
sections, as well as a nacho cheese pump and a hot dog steamer. Herbivore
also will become twice the size of its current store and add to its product
line, carrying more bags, belts, and wallets. The store also will expand
its activism-oriented titles and cookbooks, including a couple of its
own that will be published in the near future.

Sweetpea’s Grand
Opening will be the first week of January, since January 7 will be the
bakery's 3rd anniversary. In addition to its signature line of cupcakes,
cookies, and cakes, Sweetpea will be serving coffee and espresso, as well
as quite a bit of savory food — sandwiches, grab-and-go breakfast
tacos, bagels with flavored Tofutti cream cheese and an all-you-can-eat
Sunday brunch buffet. The sweets will expand to include gluten-free items,
doughnuts, and possibly croissants and Danishes.

Journey
to Beirut for the October Dine-out, Without Leaving Downtown

If you like Lebanese
food (hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel, dolmas, baklava, etc.), consider
signing up for the next Northwest VEG dine-out to take place at 2 pm on
Saturday, Oct. 13, at Habibi, located at 1012 SW Morrison St. in Portland.
The monthly dine-outs provide a chance to hang out over lunch or dinner,
partaking of only vegetarian/vegan items offered by area restaurants.
To RSVP, contact Jacqueline at vegdineout@gmail.com
or (503) 224-7380 (message phone) by Oct. 10. We will be limiting our
number to 20, so secure your seat early! To learn more about the restaurant,
visit www.habibirestaurantpdx.com.

Compassionate
Thanksgiving Celebration Planned for Nov. 18

Northwest
VEG is in the midst of planning for our 4th annual Compassionate Thanksgiving
Potluck on the 3rd Sunday of November. Exact time and place are still
to be determined as we look for a larger facility to accommodate everyone,
but save the date! We'll supply beverages and desserts, plus anticipate
having a local restaurant supply two vegan entrees to sample. Further
details and registration information will be emailed out to everyone in
the next couple of weeks.

Vegan
Singer-Songwriter to Give Presentation on Climate Change

Northwest
VEG and Proper Eats will sponsor a slide show on global warming presented
by vegan singer-songwriter Kyle Vincent on Saturday, October 27, at 2
pm. Kyle, who trained in this presentation under Al Gore and his organization,
"The Climate Project," has modified the Gore "Inconvenient
Truth" presentation to include more of the effects of diet on global
warming, and the large generation of greenhouse gases by the livestock
industry.

The presentation is
tentatively scheduled to be held at Proper
Eats Market & Cafe, 8638 N. Lombard Ave., in the St. Johns area
of Portland. Kyle Vincent is in town to hold a couple of house concerts,
and he felt this would be a good opportunity to team with Northwest VEG
and give his global warming presentation. Kyle's web site is www.kylevincent.com/start.htm.
The event is free.

Physician
to Address Diet and Disease at October Potluck

Join Northwest VEG
for its next vegetarian potluck at the West Hills Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship, 8470 SW Oleson Road in Portland. The event takes place on
Sunday, Oct. 21, starting at 5 pm. Please bring a vegan or vegetarian
main dish, salad or dessert, a card listing its ingredients, and plates
and utensils for your use. If you come alone, figure the amount to serve
4-6; increase the amount 4 servings for each additional person in your
party/family. Northwest VEG potlucks are alcohol-free events and we start
eating about 5:15 pm.

After the meal, Ole
Ersson, M.D., will discuss common diseases influenced by the typical American
diet high in saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, and refined foods. Many
studies have shown that incidences of heart conditions, cancers, and diabetes
can be dramatically lowered by adhering to a nutritionally rich, vegan
diet. Dr. Ersson serves as a physician for the Correctional Institutions
under Multnomah County. For more information call (503) 224-7380 or email
info@nwveg.org. If you can volunteer,
contact volunteer@ nwveg.org or call
(503) 224-7380. A donation of $2-5 per person is suggested to help cover
the cost of the room rental.

In
Search of a Few Good Geeks to Boost the NWVEG Website

The Northwest VEG
website has served as a vital took for the community since it launched
in late 2003. While it has been very informative and easy to use, it is
time to make it even better. This fall, our webmaster, Erika Flint, will
be meeting with Paul Clerc, the founder of Watermelon Web Works, which
has donated hosting of the site since its inception. They will begin the
discussion and implementation of a content management system, which will
allow various authorized volunteers to manage different parts of the site.
It’s simply become too big a job for one volunteer! In addition,
Northwest VEG is excited about a redesign of the site in the near future.
We are looking for anyone with web skills, either on the design or development
side, who would like to be part of the transition to a spectacular website.

If you can volunteer
some time this fall and in the future, please contact Erika at erika.flint@gmail.com
or call (503) 975-1141.

Blossoming
Lotus and Paradox Café Win Big in Favorites Survey

Northwest VEG conducted
a survey this summer asking newsletter readers to name their favorite
food establishments in 20 categories. Like last year, Blossoming Lotus
was selected "favorite restaurant." The Lotus also came out
on top for a dinner destination and raw food offerings. [Through Dec.
31, Northwest VEG members will receive a free 2 oz. vegan soft serve with
any purchase; members' catering orders for 30-300 people will be discounted
10%.]

The restaurant capturing
the most category titles (four) was Paradox Café. All winners have
locations (or are available) in Portland. A random drawing selected a
winner of a $25 gift certificate to Blossoming Lotus. Congratulations
to Maren Souders! Thanks to everyone who submitted their favorites.

Quick!
Check your cookbook shelf. I bet you have a couple of vegetarian cookbooks,
newspaper clippings of a wonderful soup or chanterelle mushroom bake you
haven’t gotten to yet, and you might have a couple of cookbooks
from days of yore that have a sirloin or ham floating around. But I bet
you don’t have the latest vegan cookbook by a local PDX lass aptly
titled, “Delicious Dishes for the Laid Back Vegan.” This self-published
cookbook has a collection of 16 fun, scrumptious, easy vegan recipes,
each with its own little story and “Laid-Backisms” to exercise
your thoughts while cooking some great food, along with a music list to
sing and sway to. There are such recipes such as “Swentilgarb Stew,”
a mélange of delicious ingredients, great for the chilly days ahead.
Oh, and of course “Goodness Gracious Great Gobs of Garbanzo Beans!”
A favorite here at the homestead. Along with scrumptious recipes, you’ll
learn the intricacies of “the laid back vegan,” and perhaps
think about becoming one yourself!

Also, this entertaining
little cookbook was published with 100% recycled paper, and 75% of the
proceeds go directly to Farm Sanctuary, the leading farm animal advocacy
organization, rescuing and rehabilitating animals all over the United
States, providing them a safe haven for the rest of their sentient lives.
With the holidays approaching, this highly affordable cookbook is an enjoyable
read with healthy dishes even a non-vegan can enjoy, and it will make
a great stocking stuffer!

If you’re interested,
shoot me an email — Cathy Monroy, the Laid Back Vegan, at monroycathy@hotmail.com.
I’ll send you a copy along with a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Then your beautiful self can send me a check, money order, or cash in
the amount of $6.00. This includes shipping charges. Not bad, eh? I promise
you a great experience. Peace, baby!

The
Veggielicious food cart at SE 32nd & Hawthorne is back and as adorable
as ever. Although it is under new ownership, the menu is currently similar
to the old one, but they will be updating with new additions in the next
few weeks. The menu still includes plenty of faux meat, soy cheese and
tofu-filled sandwiches, and there is talk of vegan pancakes!

My partner and I each
had an Egg Mock Muffin on sale at two for $8. This vegan take on the classic
breakfast sandwich consists of a toasted English muffin, grilled vegan
ham tube, lightly seasoned tofu, Tofutti American cheese and house-made
Hollandaise sauce. The Hollandaise sauce was creamy and I only wish there
was a bit more of it, and hope that it’s in constant rotation at
the cart. The combination of flavors, textures and the sauce really did
make my sandwich almost “eggy.” I really dig that every part
of the sandwich was warm and cooked — grill lines on the ham and
all.

Yes, you do have to
wait for your food being cooked by one person, but even with three sandwiches,
we walked away from the cart within 15 minutes and with a dose of friendly
conversation. There are two stools available while you wait, but no tables
as of yet for dining – although you can walk and eat the wrapped
sandwiches, it can become annoying with an open drink. However, this may
change, as Veggielicious is contemplating a move in front of People’s
Food Co-op on SE 21st Avenue where there is some seating. Meanwhile, visit
the cart on Hawthorne; hours are Tue-Fri, 11 am - 6 pm, Sat 11 am - 4
pm, and Sun, 11 am – 4 pm.

Read the entire review
of Veggielicious at stumptownvegans.com.
The site includes reviews of the vegan offerings at many Portland and
Northwest restaurants. Site visitors may read and post comments.